memeorandum: Moore lawyer: Canadian MSNBC host's ‘background’ could help him understand dating minors (Brett Samuels/The Hill)

2:00 AM ET, November 16, 2017

Top Items:

Two more women describe unwanted overtures by Roy Moore at Alabama mall — Kayla McLaughlin, left, and Gena Richardson worked together at Sears in the late 1970s. The pair is seen in this image from 1977. Richardson says Roy Moore, then in his 30s, visited her at Sears and that Moore later called her school to ask her out.

Anna Claire Vollers / al.com:

New Roy Moore accuser: 'He didn't pinch it; he grabbed it' — A Gadsden woman says Roy Moore groped her while she was in his law office on legal business with her mother in 1991. Moore was married at that time. — In the past week, Moore has been accused by five other women of a range …

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

GOP leaders weigh drastic plan to save Alabama Senate seat — Republican leaders are exploring a dramatic remedy to salvage the Alabama Senate seat as fresh polling shows Roy Moore's prospects fading fast. — With less than four weeks until the special election and no sign …

Discussion: electionlawblog.org, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Boing Boing, Raw Story, ABC News, IJR, ThinkProgress, VICE News, The Daily Caller and TheBlaze

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

NRSC poll: Moore trails Jones by 12 — Republican Roy Moore is trailing Democrat Doug Jones by 12 points in the Alabama special Senate election, according to a poll conducted by the National Republican Senatorial Committee after five women accused Moore of pursuing them as teenagers.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, ABC News, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, Fox News Insider, Axios, Politicus USA and JONATHAN TURLEY

Rich Lowry / Politico:

Roy Moore Is Pure Steve Bannon — Roy Moore is the Steve Bannon project in a nutshell. — For the former Trump operative, the Alabama Senate candidate's tattered credibility is a feature, not a bug. If Moore had well-considered political and legal views, good judgment and a sterling reputation …

Toi Thornton / WALA-TV:
Local pastor calls GOP “sissies” for asking Moore to “step aside”

Discussion: Weekly Standard, IJR, Washington Post, Breitbart, Joe.My.God. and Mediaite

Kent Faulk / al.com:
AL.com: We will not be silenced or slowed by Roy Moore's threat

Discussion: NBC News, Japan Times, New York Magazine and Politico

Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Moore lawyer: Canadian MSNBC host's ‘background’ could help him understand dating minors

Discussion: Politico, Shareblue Media, ThinkProgress, RedState, Above the Law, Business Insider and Joe.My.God.

Sean Sullivan / Washington Post:
Senate Republicans look to Trump to restore order amid Alabama upheaval

Discussion: USA Today, The Daily Caller and Slate

Eliana Johnson / Politico:
Bannon sticking by Moore ‘through thick and thin’

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, RedState, al.com and The Hill

Leada Gore / al.com:
Roy Moore removes all endorsements from website; pastor letter remains

Discussion: LGBTQ Nation, Daily Kos, Shareblue Media and Talking Points Memo

William S. Brewbaker III / New York Times: Roy Moore and the Sorry State of Evangelical Politics

Jonathan Swan / Axios: Bannon not backing down on Moore because he believes denials

David Edwards / Raw Story: MSNBC segment goes off the rails when Roy Moore attorney suggests Canadian Muslim host would date 14-year-old

Lauren Walsh / WBMA-TV:
Former Gadsden Mall employees share stories, concerns about Roy Moore

Discussion: Steve Deace and ThinkProgress

Siobhan Hughes / Wall Street Journal:

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson Opposes GOP Senate Tax Package — Wisconsin Republican says plan unfairly benefits corporations over other businesses, says he finds bill's process ‘offensive’ — WASHINGTON—Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) said he opposes the Senate Republican tax package …

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, AOL, The Daily Caller, IJR, Politico, The Atlantic and Axios

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:
How Cotton brought Obamacare repeal back from the dead

Discussion: Forbes, Vox, The Henry J. Kaiser … and Politicus USA

New York Times:
Tax Bill Thrown Into Uncertainty as First G.O.P. Senator Comes Out Against It

Discussion: Washington Post, Mother Jones, Shareblue Media and Refinery29

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
The GOP tax plan will be a massive political nightmare for Republicans

Discussion: New York Magazine, Vox, Daily Kos and Washington Monthly

Alice Ollstein / Talking Points Memo:
Collins Warns GOP That Mandate Repeal Will Hike Premiums, Slam Middle Class

Discussion: New York Magazine

Luke Harding / The Guardian:

How Trump walked into Putin's web — oscow, summer 1991. Mikhail Gorbachev is in power. Official relations with the west have softened, but the KGB still assumes all western embassy workers are spooks. The KGB agents assigned to them are easy to spot. They have a method.

Discussion: Raw Story

Julian Borger / The Guardian:
Christopher Steele believes his dossier on Trump-Russia is 70-90% accurate

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Caller and Politicus USA

CNN:
Fusion GPS co-founder: Steele didn't pay sources for dossier on Trump

Discussion: Raw Story

Natasha Bertrand / Business Insider: ‘Dossier’ author Christopher Steele: Trump's hotel and land deals with Russians need to be examined

Catherine Lucey / Associated Press:

Ivanka Trump says child tax credit ‘not a pet project’ — BAYVILLE, N.J. (AP) — Yes, it turns out, there is something that chafes at the unflappable Ivanka Trump. — The presidential daughter and adviser, in a “full-blown sprint” as she sells the Republican tax overhaul plan and juggles …

Discussion: Politico, CNBC, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, AOL, IJR, Joe.My.God. and The Daily Caller

Betsy Klein / CNN:
Ivanka Trump slams Roy Moore: 'There's a special place in hell for people who prey on children'

Discussion: Business Insider, Raw Story and WCTX-TV

CNN:
Trump takes cautious approach on Roy Moore

Discussion: KTLA and Raw Story

Stephanie Ebbs / ABC News:

Trump admin. to reverse ban on elephant trophies from Africa — The Trump administration plans to allow hunters to import trophies of elephants they killed in Zimbabwe and Zambia back to the United States, reversing a ban put in place by the Obama administration in 2014 …

Discussion: Mother Jones and Gizmodo

Timothy Cama / The Hill:

Trump to allow imports of African elephant trophies — The Trump administration is reversing an Obama administration ban on bringing to the United States the heads of elephants killed in two African countries. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said it has determined …

Discussion: Politicus USA

Wayne Pacelle: Interior Department to allow imports of elephant and lion trophies from Africa, reversing Obama policies

Natasha Bertrand / Business Insider:

A notorious far-right blogger may have provoked WikiLeaks' outreach to Donald Trump Jr. — Far-right blogger Charles Johnson may have played a role in WikiLeaks' eventual outreach to Donald Trump Jr. — Trump Jr.'s exchanges with WikiLeaks over the course of 10 months have come under scrutiny …

Discussion: Raw Story

Robert Mackey / The Intercept:
We Knew Julian Assange Hated Clinton. We Didn't Know He Was Secretly Advising Trump.

Discussion: Raw Story, VICE News, BillMoyers.com and The Guardian

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

What Donald Trump's UCLA tweet reveals about him — Washington (CNN)Think about this: You've just spent nearly two weeks halfway around the world. You've spent most of the last 24 hours on a plane. Your body clock is somewhere between 12-14 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. You are 71 years old.

Discussion: ESPN, Shareblue Media, Fox News, Press Enterprise, Washington Post, New York Magazine, NewsBusters, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:

Inside the Breitbart Embassy, Where Steve Bannon Entertains Elites and Plots His Populist Takeover — When Steve Bannon was the chief strategist and senior counselor to President Donald Trump, he spent his days and often long into his nights in an office on the first floor of the West Wing …

Discussion: CNNMoney, Balloon Juice, Business Insider and Mediaite

Peter Baker / New York Times:

‘What About Bill?’ Sexual Misconduct Debate Revives Questions About Clinton — WASHINGTON — Another woman went on national television this week to press her case of sexual assault by a powerful figure. But the accused was not Roy S. Moore or Harvey Weinstein or Donald J. Trump. It was Bill Clinton.

Discussion: Fox News Insider, The Daily Caller, Townhall.com, Business Insider, The Federalist and Power Line

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Bill Clinton should have resigned

Discussion: Hot Air, Business Insider, alicublog, Althouse, RedState, Washington Free Beacon and THE WARREN (HENRY) REPORT

New York Times:

Koch Brothers Said to Back Time Inc. Deal Talks With Meredith — Time Inc. is said to be in talks to sell itself to the Meredith Corporation, in a deal backed by Charles G. and David H. Koch, the billionaire brothers known for supporting conservative causes.

Discussion: New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Katie Kindelan / ABC News:

Terry Crews names alleged sexual assaulter: ‘I will not be shamed’ — Terry Crews publicly named for the first time the high-powered talent agent he claims groped him at an industry party and said he would “not be shamed” about the alleged assault. — “Back in February 2016 …

Discussion: Washington Post, VICE News, Boing Boing, KTLA and Mediaite

Michael Grunwald / Politico:

The IRS Is Building a Safe to Hold Trump's Tax Returns — Before John Koskinen became the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service in 2013, he was a successful corporate turnaround artist, a specialist in fixing large and distressed organizations. That's why President Barack Obama asked …

Discussion: The Hill

Bill Chappell / NPR:

Death Toll In California Shooting Rises To 6 After Police Find Body Of Gunman's Wife — Authorities in Northern California say a fifth person was killed by a man who went on a shooting rampage Tuesday. Police have discovered the dead body of the gunman's wife hidden beneath the floor at their rural home 120 miles north of Sacramento.

Discussion: Washington Post, KQED News, Mercury News and IJR

Paige St. John / Los Angeles Times:
Rancho Tehama gunman killed his wife and hid her body under their home, authorities say

Discussion: Washington Post, KTLA, The Root, AOL and Business Insider

Ari Berman / Mother Jones:

Hillary Clinton on Trump's Special Counsel Threat: “This Is Such an Abuse of Power” — Hillary Clinton responded on Wednesday to news that the Trump administration is considering appointing a special counsel to investigate her alleged ties to the Uranium One deal, calling the move …